'24': Regarding Henry

You don't see too much of him on tonight's 24, yet each of the principal characters have ties to the fate of Henry Taylor. More importantly, we dig a little deeper into what has become a fascination with viewers like me: who is Dubaku's girlfriend and how will she twist the day... now that we're 1/3 of the way in?

Even for DC, these spoilers arrived in record time.

In no time at all, the car containing the First Gentleman (still odd to type that) pulls up behind the grocer. The Dubaku flunky helps Rogue Agent Vossler escort Henry from the trunk to the basement fort. While they make their special guest comfortable, Dubaku watches the President's address to the nation reassuring the masses there is no longer a threat. She also announces the removal of Juma is on! Dubaku returns to his grocer hideaway and makes a beeline for Henry. Rogue Agent Vossler leaves with a smile, knowing he's about to get paid. Dubaku flatly states that yelling is useless. Henry says Dubaku won't get away with it... and that may be true, but only if Madame President loves him enough to call off the attack. Ooohhh, that's a tough call.

The President is still calming America down as Jack and crew make their way to an underground elevator. Once done with the address, Ethan fills her in on Jack's arrival; She of course upset this traitor is in her house! Her stance is softened somewhat when she lays eyes on Matobo still in one piece. The Prez tells him the military is proceeding with the attacks. Matobo excuses himself to place a call for Pizza Hut. Jack brings her up to speed, except she's still not believing anything coming out of Mr. Bauer's pretty little mouth. Renee steps up to the plate to personally vouch for Chloe, Tony, Jack and Bill.

I dare you to tell me that's not a sitcom that sells itself!

Jack says the first priority is to find Dubaku and without any help from any government agency. Lucky for our mötley crew, Dubaku rings the White House once again, this time with Henry on the line. The new demand: not only must the US withdraw from Sangala, but Matobo has to be delivered to them by 4:00 PM... or Henry dies. To show they're so not kidding, the flunkies make a move to cut off his left ring finger. Ouch, indeed. He of course promises more is she doesn't cooperate. Sensing his opportunity to push his agenda without fear of rejection, Ethan tells her that it's okay to hold back the forces for now. My respect level for her rises when she all but says the government doesn't negotiate with terrorists, even if it means Henry ultimately dies. Jack won't make any promises, but will try to locate Henry in time, even with the President openly questioning his loyalty.

Ethan is kind enough to give The Bauer Company their very own room in which to coordinate their next acts of violence. Jack passes off his to-do list to Renee, except she needs the services of someone she really trusts to get the job done. That man: Larry Moss, who is damned surprised to hear her not dead voice. Like the President, he can't believe Jack is on their side. She fills him in on the details thus far, asking him to search all the logs on Bad Agent Brian. Just to make sure she's not working under duress, he demands to see her at the Capitol Reflection Pool. Gotta love the caring yet paranoid work flings. Its 3:17:02.

DC time is 3:21:25 where we find the FBI crew watching NotCNN telling America to go back to work. Sean talks to Agent Erika as a less than thrilled Janis looks on. Not surprisingly, our weasel of a junior agent doesn't like being left out of the loop. Erika asks if he's all right, perhaps throwing him a sign to meet in the copy room for a little Afternoon Delight? For once, Janis says something that doesn't immediately make me want to pummel her with a Louisville Slugger, suggesting he be a little less obvious with the relationship... or else he'll be transferred to Juneau. I say send him north to Alaska, indeed!

Jack and Renee arrive at the Reflection Pool. Moss does his best triple take on seeing Renee. Doing what he does best, Jack breaks up the tender moment. Moss tells them Bad Agent Brian was on the phone with Vossler... a lot! Jack suggests he go after the rogue agent while Renee pays a visit to his wife. Naturally, Jack becomes upset when they won't immediately do what he demands, when he demands it. When Renee walks away from Moss, he smacks down Jack for sacrificing everything to get the job done, even personal relationships. In the end, our special agent relents and tosses the keys of his sweet ride to Jack.

Planning the next move, Dubaku gets a call from girlfriend Marika, hoping he'll be on time for her special lasagna dinner. "Samuel" is very apologetic when he says he's swamped at work, promising to do better next time. Throughout the whole conversation, there's what seems to me to be a genuine smile on his face. Once off the phone, Marika's wheelchair-bound sister Rosa appears out of nowhere, disapproving (once again?) of her relationship with this shady man. Of course, Marika is blinded by love and storms off when the conversation becomes heated. Rosa presents the audience with the gift of a hidden envelope. Now she'll never be able to use those Sizzler gift certificates!

Ethan goes over a plan to present Dubaku with a phony Matobo, buying enough time for Jack to save Henry. Even though she's not too crazy about the plan itself, she authorizes, if only to see her husband one more time. Meanwhile, Jack gets a call from Moss, who is tracking Vossler. In record time, Renee arrives at Casa de Vossler, forcing her way in, all while taking the wife and baby hostage. Yay, aggression! Time check: 3:30:42

Its 3:35:04 and the baby is a wee fussy. Renee has no qualms on shooting the wife if Rogue Agent becomes less than cooperative. To aid in her belief, she begins to hint to the wife on her husband's less than stellar background.

Surprisingly, Moss still tracking Vossler for Jack. Our Rogue Agent won't go gentle into that good night, bobbing and weaving with incredible ease and preventing Jack from catching up, provoking a high-quality Damn It. I sense he's becoming desperate when he turns the wrong way on a one way street. With mere milliseconds to spare, he catches up to Vossler, taking his measly car out with Moss' SUV. Jack drags him from the car and tosses him into a random building. He asks questions, kicking him the process. As Vossler remains silent, Jack calls Renee and has the wife beg for the baby's life. Only then does our Rogue Agent reveal the location of the grocer. A mighty struggle ensues: kicking the gun away and wrestling with the knife, except Vossler is on the losing end of the blunt instrument, taking one in the gut. Satisfied with the result, Jack hijacks a Chrysler and leaves the scene. Bauer time is 3:40:42.

We're back at 3:45:04 with Bill briefing the fake Matobo team on how to fool Dubaku. Yeah, because this will end well. Renee gets the Korean grocer address from Jack, somewhat surprised to hear Vossler is dead. She becomes a little emotional, forcing Jack to talk her back into the fold... unless, of course, she wants out. She does, but that's an issue for another time: tomorrow.

The fake Matobo team leaves what can only be described as a poor look-alike White House entrance. Ethan thinks they have 10-15 minutes to effectively get the job done. Bill briefs the President of Jack's most recent work.

Erika hands Sean a paper from Homeland. (Anyone else think our bubbly blonde is a mole? On this show, it's seemingly never the cheater, but the cheated with.) Anyway, as part of the fake Matobo plan, Homeland Security is lowering the threat level, presumably from Ernie to at least Bert. Of course, Sean's Spidey Sense knows something else is going on. Moss gets a call from Renee. He wants to send a SWAT team to back her up, but she appeals to his common sense, knowing that would blow the whole plan. Moss can't believe she still believes Jack.

Kids, this is why you should never engage in a workplace romance.

Flunky tells Dubaku that Matobo has departed the White House and American forces have begun their pullout from Sangala. With the "good" news comes the bad as Rosa calls Dubaku, revealing her knowledge of his illegal status. She promises to keep quiet of his immigration status if he breaks up with Marika. Ready and willing to choke a bitch, he leaves to talk to Rosa personally. Its 3:50:34.

3:54:54 comes and goes with Renee arriving across the street from the grocer with Jack speeding there as well. Bill calls to say the fake Matobo has arrived at the plant. Jack, of course, needs just a little more time. At the plant, a guard demands Matobo is brought straight to them. When the federal agents refuse the order to get out of the car, President Taylor orders them to evacuate, except they're taken out by a rocket before they can escape.

Jack pulls up next to Renee. They make their way into the store and take the clerk into the back, ordering him to unlock the door. The clerk complies, which leads Jack into confirming Dubaku's secret hideaway. Meanwhile, a Dubaku flunky gets a call from the fearless leader, telling him to kill Henry and get out. Jack and Renee act quickly to take the group out, though it certainly doesn't come easy... especially since the last evildoer shoots Henry as he himself is shot. This won't make things any easier, I tell you what. GET AN AMBULANCE! The time is now 4:00:00.

Next time on 24, Jack and Renee confront Marika about "Samuel" while we finally get an idea of who the FBI mole is!

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